(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing Member for fixing an object to a plate and a clamp with the fixing member.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Fixing members having a variety of structures have been used for fixing synthetic resin components such as a clamp or a spacer to a plate such as a printed circuit board or a housing panel. For example, Publication of Japanese Examined Utility Model Application No. 1-26140 discloses a clamp, provided with one of these fixing members at each end, for holding two plates in parallel with each other by affixing the fixing member at each end thereof to the plate
However, the fixing member provided for the clamp disclosed in the above mentioned Publication involves the following problems:
Firstly, although the fixing member can be attached to the plate by simply inserting the same into an attachment hole from the front side of the plates it cannot be detached so easily. Specifically, to detach the fixing member from the plate, it is necessary to reach around to the reverse side of the plate and elastically deform an elastic stopper. In short it is impossible to detach the fixing member from the plate only from the front side of the plate.
Accordingly, if there is not a sufficient space for a hand to be inserted around the reverse side of plate, the plate itself must be removed to detach the fixing member therefrom. This leads to a disadvantage that, for example, when the fixing member is to be separately disposed at the time of discarding a product or the fixing member is to be reused, detachment of the fixing member presents a substantial amount of trouble.
Secondly, the above fixing member projects to a substantial extent on the reverse side of the plate, and therefore cannot be employed in compact, thin electronic equipment, for example, where it is difficult to provide enough space on the reverse side of the plate.
Wherefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fixing member easily detachable by handling from the front side of a plate into which the fixing member is inserted and enabling reduction of the amount of protrusion thereof on the reverse side of the plate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a clamp having such a fixing member as above.
To attain this and other objects, a fixing member according to the present invention comprises a support protruding from the main body, a plate-like portion provided at the end of the support, at least part of the plate-like portion extending toward the side direction of the support, an extending portion extending from the main body, the extending portion being pressed against the plate and elastically deformed when the plate-like portion is inserted into an attachment hole provided in the plate and allowing the plate-like portion to pass therethrough in order to attach the fixing member to the plate, an abutting portion provided in the plate-like portion for abutting the plate, wherein when the plate-like portion is inserted into the attachment hole and slid in the extending direction of the plate-like portion in order to elastically deform the extending portion, the abutting portion abuts the plate surface around the circumference of the attachment hole at a predetermined abutting position by receiving elastic restoring force of the extending portion, and displacement preventing means for preventing the abutting portion from being displaced from the predetermined abutting point.
A variety of elements can be employed as the displacement preventing means in the above fixing member. An example of the displacement preventing means is a projection provided at the end of the extending portion and engageable with a locating hole provided in the plate. Another example is an engagement projection disposed on the abutting portion of the plate-like portion so as to face the support and engageable with an engagement hole or an engagement recess provided in the plate.
In the fixing member, at least part of the main body preferably is elastically deformable. By this, when the main body is pressed against the plate, part of the main body is elastically deformed, with the result that the plate-like member, the support and the engagement projection are displaced relative to the plate and the engagement projection is disengaged from the plate.
A clamp according to the present invention is provided by providing attaching means for attaching an object to be fixed on the main body.
One example of the clamp is a spacer formed by providing the fixing members at both ends of the main body serving as a support. In this case, the spacer is arranged between two plates to affix each fixing member at each end thereof to each plate. Another example is a cable holder configured by providing the fixing member on the main body capable of holding a cable and the like. In this case, by holding the cable with the cable holder fixed to the plate with the fixing member, wiring of the cable over the plate surface is enabled.
A fixing structure according to the present invention comprises a retaining member located separately from and also facing the main body for clamping a component between the retaining member and the main body, a connecting member for connecting the main body to the retaining member such that at least part of the component is clamped therebetween, and a projection provided to the retaining member for being engaged with the component when at least part of the component is clamped between the main body and the retaining member, thereby preventing the object from moving in the direction of coming out from between the main body and the retaining member. At least part of the main body is elastically deformable and when the main body is pressed against the component surface, part of the main body is elastically deformed, with the result that the retaining member, the connecting member and the projection are displaced relative to the, component and the projection is disengaged from the component.
In the fixing structure described above, the main body preferably has a second projection projecting toward the first projection and engageable with a locating hole provided in the component. Thus, the first projection and the second projection cooperatively prevent the component further effectively from coming out from between the main body and the retaining member.